Clashes break out in Cairo

Cairo, August 13, 2013

Clashes broke out in central Cairo on Tuesday when supporters of ousted President Mohamed Mursi came under attack as they marched to the Interior Ministry, a Reuters reporter said.

Supporters of the new military-installed government hurled stones at the marchers and threw bottles at them from balconies. Police then fired tear gas at the pro-Mursi protesters.

A few thousand pro-Mursi protesters were taking part in the march when the trouble erupted. Local residents taunted them, calling them terrorists and saying they were not welcome. They then began throwing stones at them.

The Mursi supporters responded by also hurling rocks.

Women and children marchers fled the scene in panic. Two men wielding machetes were seen chasing marchers.

The protesters are calling for the reinstatement of Mursi, who was overthrown by the military on July 3 and is now being held at undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman said the group is ready to take part in talks on Egypt's political crisis mediated by the country's leading Islamic authority, as long as they are on the right terms.

"If they stick to the rules we're asking for, yes," Gehad El-Haddad told Reuters, saying talks must be based on the "restoration of constitutional legitimacy" but adding that Al-Azhar had yet to table any initiative to the Brotherhood.

Al-Azhar, Egypt's leading Islamic authority, said last week it would call for a meeting on the country's crisis, after international mediation failed.

Al-Azhar's proposed talks are the only publicly declared effort to end the crisis peacefully.

Haddad also said the Brotherhood would be opposed to any initiatives offered by Al-Azhar's Grand Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, because of his support for the army's overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Haddad said there had been contacts with other Azhar officials. - Reuters